When queues build up at a busy call centre (by which is meant any group of people whose primary activity is answering or making calls), callers will often hang up leading to abandoned calls. These abandoned calls are bad for both the call centre (who lose the opportunity to do business with the caller) and for the caller (who cannot get through to the call centre).
Traditional approaches to solving this problem include taking a message automatically or through a receptionist, or looking at abandoned call logs and manually calling back callers when agents are free. These approaches have several major draw-backs:                The manual process requires management and is complex for agents        Agents may not be able to answer new incoming calls while making call-backs        The caller does not know when, or even if, to expect a call-back        The caller may therefore still be trying to get through while call-backs are attempted        
More recently, a number of automated approaches to this problem have been proposed, as we shall now discuss.
Automatic Agent-Callback
Agent-Callback systems initiate a call back from the call centre to the caller at a later time. Typically, the caller must first request a call back (at which point he/she leaves the queue and will not be answered on that call) by leaving a name and telephone number. Then the system finds an agent. Typically, the agent must acknowledge the call before the call-back to the caller is launched. If the caller is then unavailable, the agent must waste time leaving a message and scheduling another callback.
Most Agent-Callback systems are unaware of the conditions at the relevant call centre at the time the attempt to find the agent is made. Therefore, they often make callbacks during busy periods and must be ‘throttled’ to prevent the call centre from becoming entirely outbound.
Some Agent-Callback systems allow the caller to schedule a time for the callback, in which case the call centre manager must ensure an agent is free to make the callback at that time. Even Agent-Callback systems that are aware of current queue status, and only launch callbacks when the inbound queue is empty, still tie up agents from answering new inbound calls.
Furthermore, the Call Centre manager must decide on a minute-to-minute basis whether to offer the call-back option, since if the system is left enabled when long queues form, then it is easy to promise more call-backs than the call centre can deliver (‘call-back debt’).
In all Agent-Callback scenarios, there is a charge for calling back the caller for the portion of the call in which the agent is connected to the caller. This cost must be borne by the callback service operator and is passed on to the Call Center. This in effect means that callers can only benefit from such systems when the destination call centres have chosen to install one.
As will be appreciated, there is a need for an improved system which addresses these problems.
Manual Caller-Callback
There is one system in existence, the “OrderlyQ” system described in WO2005/112389, which focuses on an approach whereby the caller calls back in, rather than the call centre calling back the original caller. This avoids many of the problems and much of the expense associated with Agent-Callback systems.
In this scenario, the caller calls in and is given an estimated wait time. If the wait time is more than a minute, for example, the caller is encouraged to hang up and call back after that time. When the caller calls in the second time, the Caller-Callback system restores the caller to the front of the queue for immediate service by the next available agent. However, the OrderlyQ system does not attempt to find an agent to answer the caller unless the caller is on the line at that time.
While extremely effective at reducing abandonment, this system also has limitations. In order to restore returning callers to the front of the queue, all calls to the destination team must be routed through the system. Otherwise, in the alternative situation, callers returning through the Caller-Callback system will be competing with direct callers, who may have been on hold for longer on that particular call, but who should not be ahead of the returning caller. The automatic provision of accurate estimated waits also requires all inbound calls to be routed through the system. In addition, the costs of delivering all these calls are borne by the Service Provider and passed on to the Call Centre.
Furthermore, it is unfeasible for agents to manually acknowledge every call before connection to the caller. Therefore, the Call Centre must supply a number to the Caller-Callback system operator that just rings until an agent answers, so that the system can detect when this has happened. This means that the Call Centre must make modifications to their existing system in order to run the Caller-Callback system. It also means that callers can only take advantage of current Caller-Callback systems if the destination call centre has chosen to install it.
OrderlyQ is a manual system, in that it gives the caller an estimated wait and then encourages the caller to call back after that time. When the caller calls back, he/she is expected to be at the front of the queue. However, there is no guarantee that an agent will be available to take the call at that moment, and so the caller may still be waiting in the queue for an agent to become available. Again, an improved system is required for handling call back in call centre type environments.